Accommodations, Rail Pass, Venice, Monterosso, Rome

Andrew, Your questions are a bit lengthy, but I'll try to provide some answers..... 1.) It's difficult to offer hotel suggestions without having some idea on your price range. I'd suggest checking your local Library for a copy of the Italy Guidebook, as there are lots of reliable hotels listed there. 2.) You'll depart from Venezia Santa Lucia. There are two main routes from Venice to Monterosso, one via Milan and one via Florence. Use the Trenitalia website to choose one (through Florence seems a bit easier). Note that schedules for Oct. 2014 won't be posted yet, so just research using the same day of the week in the current schedules. 3.) IMO, it's best not to purchase ANY passes, as they're not usually cost effective in Italy. First Class is a waste of money (IMO) as some of the trains you'll be using are Regionale and they only offer second class. Note that Passes DO NOT include the compulsory reservation fees, so you'll have to pay separately for those. 4.) For lodgings in Monterosso, check this list: www.rebuildmonterosso.com/p/visitors-information.html (or the Italy Guidebook). Would you prefer to stay in the new town or old town? What price range? 5.) Train to Portofino for the day - what's the question? For the trip from the C.T. to Rome, my suggestion would be to use one of the direct trains from La Spezia to Roma Termini. There are several each day, with travel time about 3H:45M. 6.) Again, what price range? You might have a look at Hotel Sonya, Hotel Aberdeen or Hotel Smeraldo. You could also check the excellent www.roninrome.com website or the Italy Guidebook for listings. Just the name "Guide Michaela" doesn't offer much to go on. If you want an excellent Rome Guide, I'd suggest Francesca Caruso. continued.....

Andrew - Part 2..... 7.) I've never heard of "small group rail passes". Again, P-P tickets purchased well in advance on the Freccia trains are your best bet on that route. You can purchase discounted Super Economy or Economy tickets on the Freccia trains about 120 days out. There are only a limited number of the discounted tickets and when they're gone the only option is Base fare. Note that those tickets are specific to a particular train, date and departure time, and can ONLY be used on the train listed on the ticket. If you board any other train, you'll be subject to hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! Failure to validate tickets on Regionale trains, Buses, etc. will also result in hefty fines collected on the spot. BTW, it would make a LOT more sense to use open-jaw flights, inbound Venice and outbound Rome. You're going to waste both time and money returning to Venice. In most cases, arriving at Venezia Santa Lucia is the best idea. Are you planning to take the train from Rome and then go directly to the airport in Venice? Good luck with your planning!

Andrew, Regarding question (5), were you asking how to get to Portofino for the day. I can provide directions if that's the case, as I've done that trip. Have a look at this Thread (saves me from typing in the same information).... www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/112455/cinque-terre-options.html

So many questions in such a short post!! I'll pitch in where I can... This "small group", can you be more specific please? Are we talking 15 people or 5? It would make a difference. Ages? Infirmities? 1. You give no input if stairs are a problem. If not, and the group is not too big, we like Pensione Guerrato near the Rialto market. It is in the book. 2. as per Ken 3. No 4. no knowledge 5. 5a. wat's the question? 5b. yes. 5c. yes. 5d. I wouldn't. Much better to get at least an InterCity for that distance. 6. 6a. I wouldn't but lots of folks here prefer to be around Termini, just not me. I much prefer Prati near the Vatican and the Pantheon area and the area around Campo dei Fiori, and if there I liek the Smeraldo. 6b. Walking on that route the "locals" you will "melt in with" will most likely be either tourists like you or immigrants selling to tourists like you, especially around the first 3 places in your walk and even the last 2. 6c. Never heard of her. That is a very common name in Italy. Sort of like saying guide Bob in BC. 7. 7a. Never heard of such a thing. Where did you read about that?
7b. dunno. Are you going straight to the airport or spending more time in Venice? If straight back, why for goodness sake? Why don't you fly into Venice and out of Rome and save a ton of money using Multi-city options?

Andrew, Ken and Nigel have some great responses. I'll just add a couple of items to certain numbers. 2) As Ken mentioned you depart from Venezia Santa Lucia. I did this trip a couple weeks ago from Venice to Vernazza. Our route was Venice - Florence on high speed, Florence to La Spezia on regional train, and the local train to Vernazza from there. The other option is thru Milan and then down the coast. Both routes are the same time and they are about 5-6 hours travel day. I took the early 7:10 departure out the Venice and arrived in Vernazza shortly after lunch. This way we maximized our time in the 5T. If you don't mind getting up early i would recomennd taking a early departure from Venice. 3) If those are the only cities you are visiting you don't need a railpass. You can purchase Point to Point tickets in Italy. The only tickets to purchase ahead are the High Speed trains to get a discount. You get discounts when they go on sale of cheap for 9 euro, 18 euro etc opposed to the regular 54 euro fare. however they have limitations with changing of tickets if you miss your scheduled train departure time. The regional trains like Florence to La Spezia are teh same price if you purchase ahead or in italy. It's easier at the train station there. I had a 19 euro 2nd class Venice to Florence ticket ahead of time. 3b) Why are you going from Rome to Venice to fly home. Can you change your airfare and fly into Venice and depart Rome. Those are open jaw tickets. 6)I stayed at Hotel Aberdeen near Termini. The staff was very friendly helping us with questions and making dinner reservations when I left the restaurant name with them in the morning before departing for all day tours. It is also in Rick's book

Hello Andrew. FYI, you can't take a train from Monterosso directly to Portofino. You can take the train to Santa Margherita Ligure and then you'll need to take the bus (#82 I think) to Portofino. nately, what we did was take the train from Monterosso to Camogli, spent a few hours in Camogli (pretty little town) and then we took a boat to San Fruttuoso and then another boat to Portofino from San Fruttuoso. It makes for a long day so leave Monterosso early but it gave us an opportunity to see Camogli which we really enjoyed. As for lodging in Monterosso, I can suggest Albergo Pasquale. It's highly rated and for good reason. Every room has wonderful views over the ocean. If you are interested in staying here, you definitely need to book way ahead. As others have suggested, try to change your flight plans to fly open jaw into Venice and out of Rome. That's exactly what we did this past September. It will make your life much simpler and afford you more sightseeing time in Rome. It's only a 30-minute ride from the center of Rome to the airport (FCO). You do not need to purchase your train tickets ahead of time; purchase them when you're there & then you won't be locked into a specific time. As for lodging in Venice, we stayed at Locanda Orseolo (#1 rated B&B on Trip Advisor) and the location was perfect...right in between St. Mark's Square & Rialto Bridge). The B&B, staff and breakfasts were all top notch! Have a great trip.

6) Albergo del Senato..a beautiful location just a few steps from the Pantheon and walking distance to all the things you mentioned. We loved it. I've not heard of the guide Michaela, but we used a Rick Steves recommended guide, Francesca Caruso and she was wonderful! Her email address is [email protected]. Have fun!!

I also can suggest Albergo del Senato next to the Pantheon. We stayed there in September and it was a highlight of our trip (we also got upgraded to a penthouse suite which didn't hurt either!). I don't know what your budget is but Albergo del Senato isn't cheap, especially if you opt for a view of the Pantheon/piazza. It's a nice splurge though and we loved sitting on our little balcony in the afternoons and watching all the people in the piazza below. The area is very central to almost everything and there's a taxi stand right outside the hotel next to the Pantheon which was handy for when we were tired of walking and wanted to get somewhere fast. The breakfast buffet was very nice and the staff very accommodating. We would not hesitate to stay there again.